TONY HETHERINGTON INVESTIGATES: I invested £40,000 in equity company shares for a 15% return… now I fear I’ve lost it all

Ms. EH writes: I purchased preferred stock from Orange River Wealth, which promised to send me a paper copy of my stock certificate, but did not. There was no response to an email I sent to the company. I paid just under £40,000 for shares that cost 32p each. They also promised that a first dividend would be paid in January 2024.

When Orange River Wealth raised millions of pounds in 2022, tempting investors with a surprising 15 per cent annual return, I took a closer look and found more red flags than you’d see waving at an old-fashioned May Day parade in Moscow.

Eighteen months ago, The Mail on Sunday warned that the offer document issued to investors was full of unreliable details. It claimed to have links with a firm of City stockbrokers that had already gone bankrupt. It named a director who had quit months earlier. And the man behind the offer – Lee Farbrace – provided a list of his directorships, conveniently omitting one of his companies that had promised ‘unparalleled returns with low risk’ but had cost an investor £100,000 within months.

The shares offered weren’t even in Orange River Wealth itself. They were in a sister company called Orange River Capital. And while the fixed 15 percent dividend was very attractive – assuming you got it – control of the company remained with a different share class, where the ultimate boss was, you guessed it, Lee Farbrace.

Where has all the money gone? Orange River Capital says it has purchased a 49 percent stake in Greengrow Capital, a medical cannabis farm in South Africa. No audited figures have been provided and according to Companies House, both Orange River Capital and Orange River Wealth failed to submit accounts that were legally due in May last year. This is a violation.

Your own very risky investment should never have happened. On paper, the stocks you bought were only intended for wealthy investors or for investors who were so sophisticated that they knew what they were doing and could afford the risks. You told the stock salesperson at Orange River Wealth that you knew what you were doing, but the truth was you didn’t.

You were asked to provide a signed certificate with details of the professional advisor who discussed the investment with you, but no such meeting took place and you did not provide such a certificate. Orange River Capital should never have issued your shares. It’s that simple. It should unravel the whole deal and set you back £40,000. I asked Lee Farbrace to do this. He didn’t answer. I also asked him to explain why you had been told to pay £19,200 of your £40,000 to a separate company called Phoenix Capital Investments. This company was founded in 2017 without any one person or company having control over it. Nearly three years later, according to Companies House, Lee Farbrace informed officials that he had been the comptroller all along. Again, Farbrace offered no explanation.

However, there was some kind of reaction. After I started asking questions, you received the correct stock certificate you wanted, and Adam Collins, who describes himself as Sales Director of Orange River Wealth, sent you a one-page report. This lacked financial details, but it did reveal that the company has professional advisors in the form of FCA-authorized NextCrowd. Except this is just another false claim.

Sacha Bright, who runs NextCrowd, told me it operates a crowdfunding platform, but added: ‘We don’t act as an advisor to any company.’ Orange River Wealth wanted to join NextCrowd, but did not answer questions about its activities.

I asked Adam Collins about this false claim, but he provided no explanation. I also asked him what experience and qualifications he has as an investment salesman, since his last job was as a car salesman. Again he made no comment. All this leaves you with stocks you should never have bought, and without the dividend you should have expected. You could sue Orange River Wealth, or Orange River Capital, or both. But you might be throwing good money after bad. When I checked the court records, I discovered that both companies had dissatisfied County Court rulings against them. Perhaps it is time for an Insolvency Service investigation.

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A former millionaire Liverpool property developer has been declared bankrupt following the collapse of an apartment complex that the MoS warned about in 2022. Lawrence Kenwright was behind the plans to convert Kingsway House from offices to residential apartments.

Lawrence Kenwright, pictured with his wife Katie, who was declared bankrupt after his plans to convert Kingsway House in Liverpool collapsed

Financiers Lyell Trading, who put up the money, say they are owed £25,000,337, with the loan personally guaranteed by Kenwright

Two years ago I investigated the scheme after a reader who had paid a £26,000 deposit was sued by Kenwright’s lawyers for the balance of £184,000. They told her her new apartment was “ready for occupancy.” But when I went to Kingsway House it was clear that major work was underway on the building. Liverpool City Council has provided evidence of serious breaches of planning permission. And Merseyside Fire Brigade revealed the building did not meet safety regulations. Now financiers Lyell Trading, who put up the money, say they are owed £25,000,337. The loan was personally guaranteed by Kenwright. The High Court in Liverpool was told that he had not paid, and that he and his wife Katie, who had also been declared bankrupt, owed a further £4,366,314, borrowed to pay for a separate project. It is unlikely that a sale of Kingsway House will cover the debts owed to Lyell as there will be no money left to repay the deposits.

We’re watching you

A former millionaire Liverpool property developer has been declared bankrupt following the collapse of an apartment complex that the MoS warned about in 2022. Lawrence Kenwright was behind the plans to convert Kingsway House from offices to residential apartments.

Two years ago I investigated the scheme after a reader who had paid a £26,000 deposit was sued by Kenwright’s lawyers for the balance of £184,000. They told her her new apartment was “ready for occupancy.” But when I went to Kingsway House it was clear that major work was underway on the building. Liverpool City Council has provided evidence of serious breaches of planning permission. And Merseyside Fire Brigade revealed the building did not meet safety regulations. Now financiers Lyell Trading, who put up the money, say they are owed £25,000,337. The loan was personally guaranteed by Kenwright. The High Court in Liverpool was told that he had not paid, and that he and his wife Katie, who had also been declared bankrupt, owed a further £4,366,314, borrowed to pay for a separate project. It is unlikely that a sale of Kingsway House will cover the debts owed to Lyell as there will be no money left to repay the deposits.